Decorative seat welt

ABSTRACT

A decorative seat welt for securement to the upholstry fabric covering automobile-type seats, formed of a long, narrow strip of thick, double creped paper upon which is centered a thicker strip of resilient foam plastic material, covered by a cloth-like strip. The side edges of the foam strip are spaced a short distance inwardly from the side edges of the paper strip, and the side edges of the cloth-like strip are bent around the side edges of the paper strip to overlap the edge portions of the rear face thereof. A line of stitches arranged closely adjacent to each of the side edges of the plastic strip secures the edges of the cloth-like and paper strips together. The assembled welt is then stitched to the upholstry cloth covering the seat, for decorative purposes.

United States Patent Ambrose [451 0a. 10, 1972 [54] DECORATIVE SEAT WELT3,560,321 2/1971 Magid ..l6l/l 19 [72] Inventor: Jere B. Ambrose,Pontiac, Mich. FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1731 Assignee= Norther"Fibre Products Company 538,254 3/1957 Canada ..161 /104 Birmingham,Mich.

221 Filed; June 21 1971 Primary ExaminerAlfred R. Guest Attorney-DanielG. Cullen et al. [21] Appl. No.: 155,161

[57] ABSTRACT g 161 A decorative seat welt for securement to theupholstry [51] Int. Cl. ..B32b 7/08 fabric covering automobile-typeseats, formed of a [58] Field of Search ..1 12/418, 423, 425, 426, 413,long, narrow strip of thick, double creped paper upon 112/417,52,137,419;297/DIG. 1; 161/104, which is centered a thicker strip ofresilient foam 105, 119, 120 plastic material, covered by a cloth-likestrip. The side edges of the foam strip are spaced a short distance in-[56] References Cit d wardly from the side edges of the paper strip, andthe side edges of the cloth-like strip are bent around the UNITED STATEST T side edges of the paper strip to overlap the edge por- 1,2s3,37210/1918 Vanderslice ..112/417 the rear .face there A Smhes rangedclosely ad acent to each of the slde edges of 1,594,612 8/1926 Gillies..1 12/417 2 090 442 8/1937 E t 1 12,418 X the plast1c strip secures theedges of the cloth-hke and 2O93083 9/1937 F em 112 I 423 paper stripstogether. The assembled welt is then 'I stitched to the upholstry clothcovering the seat, for 2,839,020 6/1958 Hopkms ..112/417 X decorativepurposes. 3,086,216 4/1963 Brooks et al ..l61/119 3,226,284 12/ 1965 2Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Curtis ..161/140X PMENTEDom 10 m2 INVEN TOR.

JERE B. AMBROSE.

CULLEN FIG. 4

SETTLE, SLOMAN 8 CANT OR ATT'YS.

1 DECORATIVE SEAT WELT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I In manufacturingseats for automobiles, as well as similar type seats, it is conventionalto sew narrow bands or welts on selected portions of the upholstryfabric covering the seat, for decorative purposes. Such bands or weltshave been made of a contrasting fabric or cloth-like material, either ofthe woven type or nonwoven type. In some instances a suitable paddingstrip has been positioned between the welt and theupholstry fabric togive a slightly padded or bulged effect.

However, the previously used welts have been relatively difficult toassemble to the upholstry fabric, requiring considerable hand labor andparticularly in mass production and in addition, tend to pucker andcrease and lose their bulge after a period of use.

Thus, this invention relates to an improvement to decorative seat weltsof the type described above.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention herein contemplates forming adecorative seat welt or band assembly out of a long, narrow strip ofdouble-creped, thick paper, upon which a thicker strip of resilentlycompressible foam material is centered so that the opposite edgeportions of the paper strip is exposed, and then covering these with awider strip of cloth or clothlike fabric whose edges are wrapped aroundthe edges of the paper and stitched thereto by a line of stitcheslocated closely adjacent to each of the side edges of the resilentstrip. Thus, the resilent strip is compressed and held against the paperstrip by the covering cloth-like material. The entire assembly may thenbe stitched to conventional upholstry fabric used to cover the seats.

With this construction, the welt may be preassembled and used whenneeded, being rapidly stitched to the seat fabric. Additionally, itpresents a bulged appearance and maintains this appearance as well asits compressibility, and is substantially wrinkle-free and pucker-freedue to the above mentioned construction with the relatively stiff paperstrip, at all times backing the resilent strip and the coveringcloth-like material. Welts formed in this manner are relatively soft andcompressible to the touch and present a neat, long lasting decorativeaddition to the seat.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent, upon reading the following description, of which the attacheddrawings form a part.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automobileseat with the decorative bands or welts secured thereon.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken in the direction ofarrows 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, perspective view of a portion of the decorativewelt.

FIG. 4 is an elevation, end view of the three parts making up the welt,shown disassembled.

FIG. 5 shows the welt with additional decorative stitched patternsformed thereon, and

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 6--6of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional automobile benchtype seat 10 having an upright seat back portion 11 and a substantiallyhorizontal seat portion 12. The seat is constructed of suitable framework, covered by padding, in turn covered by a conventional upholstryfabric 13.

The decorative seat welt 15 is shown as secured to both the seat backand the horizontal seat portion. However, it may be arranged in othermanners upon the seat or may be applied only to the seat back itself,etc. The location and the number used is generally determined by thedesigner of the seat.

The welt is formed of a thick, double-creped paper strip 16 which islong and narrow. For example, it may be approximately one thirty-secondof an inch in thickness and approximately 3 inches in width, and ofwhatever length is required. Such type of paper is creped both along itslength as well as transversely of its length, thus being known asdouble-creped paper and is relatively soft and bendable but tends toremain flat and avoids wrinkling. Generally it tends to recover its flatshape upon being bent. Such type of paper is commercially available.

The paper strip 16 is covered with a thicker strip 17 of resilentlycompressible foamed plastic material which is generally rubber-like inits compressibility. The resilent strip is narrower than and is centeredupon the paper strip so as to leave opposite exposed edge portions onthe paper strip which form side sewing flange portions 18.

An example of a suitable plastic strip is one which is about one quarterof an inch in thickness and formed out of a suitable foamedpolyurethane.

A cloth-like cover strip 19, which may be formed of a conventional wovencloth or of a non-woven, plastic type sheeting, is arranged over theplastic strip 17 and is of sufficient width so as to be bent around theside edges of the paper strip, with its three edge portions 20overlapping the rear face of the paper strip.

The cloth-like strip 19 and the paper strip 16 are secured together byan line of stitches 21 located closely adjacent to the side edge oftheplastic strip 17, on each side, with the stitches 21 passing through thethree layers of cloth, paper and then cloth again as illustrated in FIG.3. Thus, the cloth strip 19 slightly compresses and holds the plasticstrip against the paper strip. This completes the basic assembly.

In use, the assembled welt may be stitched to the upholstry fabric ofthe seat by running additional lines of stitches either over or parallelto the lines 21. The result is a decorative, outwardly bulged band uponthe exposed portions of the seat in the pre-selected areas.

Decorative designs may be added to the welt, as illustrated in FIG. 5,by lines of stitching 23 arranged in patterns along selected portions ofthe welt. The lines of stitches 23 compress the cloth and underlyingplastic strip portions against the paper strip to form valleys or linesof compression 24 between which are bulges 25 caused by the uncompressedportions of the plastic strip (see FIG. 6). The lines of stitching 23are not readily visible, particularly if thread of a color to match thecolor of the cloth strip 19 is used. Thus, the appearance of the welt isthat of decorative indentations with decorative bulges between them.

As can be seen, the plastic strip-is generally free of connection-toboth the cloth strip and the paper strip, except in those areas wheredecorative stitches 23 may be used. Also, the exposed sewing flangeportions 18 on the paper strip provides an area for fastening the partstogether as well as fastening the welt to theseat fabric to simplifymanufacture as well as to border the bulged center portion of the welt.

Having fully described an operative embodiment of this invention, I nowclaim:

1. A decorative seat welt assembly comprising:

a long, narrow strip of thick, double-creped paper having a narrowerstrip of thicker, resiliently compressible, foamed plastic materialcentered thereon, with the side edges of the plastic strip spaced ashort distance inwardly of the side edges of the paper strip, so thatthe side edge portions of the paper strip form exposed, integral sewingflanges;

a wider, cloth-like strip covering the exposed faces of the plasticstrip and the sewing flanges and folded around the edges of the paperstrip and overlapping the opposite faces of the sewing flanges, andcompressing the plastic strip in face to face contact with the paperstrip;

a line of stitches arranged closely adjacent to each side edge of theplastic strip and extending through and stitching together each of thesewing flanges and their adjacent cloth strip edge portions, with thesewing flanges thus being between two layers of cloth, to thereby formthe welt assembly;

with the three strips being otherwise substantially free of securementto each other;

whereby the welt assembly may be sewn by lines of stitches along itsside edge portions upon selected portions of the upholstry fabric usedto cover a seat, to form a narrow, soft feeling, outwardly bulging,compressible decorative welt upon the seat.

2. A decorative welt assembly as defined in claim 1 above, and includingdecoration forming lines of stitching located between the sewing flangelines of stitching and extending through and tightly compressingtogether the cloth, plastic and paper strips to form decorative patternsthereon defined by the compressed lines caused by the decoration forminglines of stitching and the bulges between said compressed lines.

1. A decorative seat welt assembly comprising: a long, narrow strip ofthick, double-creped paper having a narrower strip of thicker,resiliently compressible, foamed plastic material centered thereon, withthe side edges of the plastic strip spaced a short distance inwardly ofthe side edges of the paper strip, so that the side edge portions of thepaper strip form exposed, integral sewing flanges; a wider, cloth-likestrip covering the exposed faces of the plastic strip and the sewingflanges and folded around the edges of the paper strip and overlappingthe opposite faces of the sewing flanges, and compressing the plasticstrip in face to face contact with the paper strip; a line of stitchesarranged closely adjacent to each side edge of the plastic strip andextending through and stitching together each of the sewing flanges andtheir adjacent cloth strip edge portions, with the sewing flanges thusbeing between two layers of cloth, to thereby form the welt assembly;with the three strips being otherwise substantially free of securementto each other; whereby the welt assembly may be sewn by lines ofstitches along its side edge portions upon selected portions of theupholstry fabric used to cover a seat, to form a narrow, soft feeling,outwardly bulging, compressible decorative welt upon the seat.
 2. Adecorative welt assembly as defined in claim 1 above, and includingdecoration forming lines of stitching located between the sewing flangelines of stitching and extending through and tightly compressingtogether the cloth, plastic and paper strips to form decorative patternsthereon defined by the compressed lines caused by the decoration forminglines of stitching and the bulges between said compressed lines.